Anti-theft hangers are already known which are provided with a flexible anti-theft member, such as chain or cable, connected to the support of the hanger whose shape matches that of the garment having to be hung up and which is extended upwardly, in its central part, by a hook adapted to pass around a suspension bar. This flexible anti-theft member is adapted to be threaded through a tubular part of the garment borne by the hanger, such as a jacket sleeve, the two ends of the flexible member being fast with hooking elements making it possible to close the flexible member around the garment, for example by means of a padlock or lock, in order to prevent theft of said garment. Such anti-theft hangers are described for example in Patents FR-A-1 167 190 and DE-A-3 542 108. Patent FR-A-1 167 190 describes a hanger of which the support is pierced, in its central part, with a hole traversed by a suspension bar and which is therefore permanently fixed on this bar. This hanger bears at the two ends of its two lateral arms, two chains hanging freely, which may be connected to each other at their lower ends by means of a ring and padlock. Such an anti-theft hanger presents the drawback of not being detachable from the suspension bar and of using, as flexible member, two separate chains passed respectively through the two sleeves of a hung up jacket. Consequently, it is not convenient to manipulate since the two chains must be withdrawn from the two sleeves in order to be able to separate the jacket from the hanger. In addition, it is cumbersome, heavy, unaesthetic and is not suitable for protecting a skirt or trousers from theft. Furthermore, the anti-theft hanger according to Patent DE-A-3 542 108 comprises a flexible anti-theft cable vertically traversing the central part of the support of the hanger and sliding inside the upper hook. The two ends of the cable may be hooked to each other by means of a lock with key. In that case, the flexible anti-theft cable, when it is hooked to itself to form a closed loop, prevents a garment hung from the hanger from being detached therefrom and also prevents the hanger itself from being unhooked from the suspension bar. However, such an anti-theft hanger presents the drawback that it requires one lock per hanger and it is therefore particularly expensive. Furthermore, that part of the flexible cable which emerges from the end of the upper hook hangs freely outside the hanger and may be placed anyhow, this considerably hindering manipulation of the hangers, particularly when the garment is hung on the hanger and it is desired to position the anti-theft device by hooking the two ends of the cable to each other. In addition, the anti-theft hanger suspended with its flexible cable closed around a jacket sleeve for example is not aesthetic since the flexible cable must pass partially outside the garment and is permanently visible. This is particularly inconvenient when a succession of garments are hung side by side from the same suspension bar as, in that case, all the flexible anti-theft cables appear side by side. Finally, such an anti-theft hanger protects only a jacket or coat from theft and cannot be used with skirts or trousers.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome these various drawbacks by providing an anti-theft hanger of particularly simple design, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to use and not being detrimental to the aesthetic nature of the garments hung up.